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Why Do You Attend? ~ or ~ Why Do You Not Attend?

While attending the Cachin' and Scrapin' Event sponsored by one of our own in Southern Maine this past weekend - the Question posted on the Tread Title was asked.

We wondered why no more that a few - both from in-state and out of state attended? Was it the location? Was it the timing? Was it when this was posted folks were already booked? Was it the event itself and what it had to offer?

So I propose the following questions:

1. What makes you consider attending an event? The date, the theme, those who post they are going, the location? Whatever the reason - please share it!

2. If you decide to NOT come to an event - why? Again, sort of the same questions - the date, the theme, those who post they are going, the location ~ but I will add ~ the expense, the equipment needed to fully participate or please describe anything else.

3. If the date of an event is a problem - what would you propose as ideal dates or frequency of events.

4. If time is important - what is your imput to that. Perhaps you would share that there are Geocaching weekends (including events) and family weekends.

5. Location - site - type - I won't go on and on here - just post the whys, whens, wheres, and timing of what you would like for events.

6. How do you feel about short Meet N Greet Events? Do you like these better than all day, half day or longer events? Mid-week better? Coffee-break style?

There are loads of folks who read these forums and none have ever come to an event - why? What can those who sponsor events do to better plan them, execute them and post them? Without your input - we all put in a lot of effort for a few to attend.

Please use this tread to share with us ~ your ideal Maine event! Timing of when it is held, time of day, length of event, activities offered, and anything else that can help event sponsors better plan a great time for those who Geocache in Maine.

Thanks in advance to all who are willing to share their ideas and input. It think it will help a lot of us for future planning.

all about what else is going on

Hiram can add here (but most likely he'll see words and stuff and won't bother), but this past weekend we had a family camping trip planned, plus we reserved camp sites before the event was posted (at a different campground). The biggest reason we don't come to all events is that we have some other engagement going on.

We haven't attended mega events because of cost. We had a vacation in Colorado (though we did cache there) and we're still contemplating going to Ohio (sorry to blow your cover Hiram) to see family we haven't seen in over 2 years.

Maybe it's not the true or right thought, but: events, mega and non, happen every month/year, but time with family is more rare for us.

We like good food, so that is always a draw. Mostly we like seeing friends and meeting people with similar interests, so we've made it a point to attend annual events. We don't own watercraft yet, so an event requiring such requires that friends drag us along and shove a watercraft into our hands so-to-speak. We have a lot of options for our weekends, so we end up doing other things that take less time/energy than borrowing watercraft for an event. But these types of events may be in our future.

Finally, we go for quality not quantity (ok maybe Hiram's a little about the numbers) but we really enjoy good conversations and laughter; we really don't enjoy chaotic crowds. We had a great time at the Slipping into Summer event, even though it was a lot lower in attendence than years past. We're more likely to call up a few geocachers and make a day of adventure than work out an event, but Hiram does help the ORCAs put on the annual Tread Lightly event!

"Given a chance, a child will bring the confusion of the world to the woods, wash it in the creek, turn it over to see what lives on the unseen side of that confusion." --Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods

With the scrapping event, it was timing for us. We had to make a trip to NH, and thought we might make it on the way down or the way back. But we left on Friday and had to stay there until Monday morning, so it just didn't work. We didn't even look for an actual cache the entire trip either.

Personally We like all events but are less enthused with those of short duration. What's the fun of meeting for an event if it's only an hour? Might as well just meet up at a restaurant and have dinner without it being an official event. We like to have time to share stories and ideas.

Another thing that I think brings the people count down is the frequency of events. People are more inclined to skip one if they went to one last week or think they can go to the one next week. The first few events we had in this state brought a good sized number of cachers to them considering how few there were. Now the number of cachers has quintupled, but the numbers attending an individual event have dropped by half or more.

We enjoy events, we really like to meet everyone and put faces to the names we see in the logs.
This has been a very busy summer for us and we have had little time to cache and have gone to events when we could.

We were disappointed to have to miss the Slipping into Summer event this year that was the first event we ever attended and look forward to it. Unfortunately for us it came on the weekend of our oldest sons birthday and although we tried we couldn't fit everything into the day.

This last weekend I had plans to go on a geocaching hike and again just couldn't do both..

We have never gone to an event where we didn't have a good time. we believe that you get out what you put in and although sometimes the boys get tired and have had enough (ok me to) they alway talk about the events and things that are special memories to them.

There have been a lot of events this summer and more to come. We have missed one we wanted to go to due to our car breaking down another because of work and just the busyness of our lives.

We were very fortunate to go to Quebec to the Mega event and had a great time. That was the furthest we have traveled to go to an event and we got to meet some folks that we had spoken to through emails. others who we had traded coins with it was a good time but no more fun than we had at the Pirate event, the Snow shoe event, the WWWWW event or the coffee break events, to name but a few.

In the end we would love to go to every event but sometimes you get to do what you want and other times you have to do what you have to do.

Thanks to everyone who has had an event short of long , we like them all.

Location is big for us. On a careful budget we haven't even been geocaching much with gas prices this summer. If we are going to an event, we do tend to prefer events that are more than just a coffee break but if the event is very long, its hit or miss on who you will see. The social part is a good reason to go.
This past weekend was our Anniversary and we ended up repainting the livingroom and putting down pergo. That was timing because it was a gift and the first time in 14yrs that we painted. Unfortunately someting is always going on and plans constatnly change with kids and a rotating shift at work. If it was up to me and cost wasn't an issue, I would go to almost all the events.

Family concerns for Shotgun and me. We can't go far for more then an hour or two. Meet-and-Greets are all we have attended. We have planned on the Eustis event for quite a while now and we have someone to take care of the family problems that week-end. If not for that problem we would be at many more events.

1. What makes you consider attending an event? - - - Distance is somewhat of a part of my consideration, but more importantly the calendar. Weekends are a bit difficult for me, Sundays especially.

2. If you decide to NOT come to an event - why? - - - Again, it is mostly related to the calendar. I missed two events the last two weekends and that was due to previous commitments that while caching related, were very important to me and so the decision was not a difficult one to make.

3. If the date of an event is a problem - what would you propose as ideal dates or frequency of events. - - - The calendar is always a big problem, but a few observations. Summer Time events are difficult at best. Many have made plans well in advance and when an event is published choices are made. We only have about two months of Summer here (July and August) so the weekends especially fill up quickly with outings, family etc. Also anything close to a holiday weekend seems to be difficult as well. I have no suggestions on best dates, but School Vacations are usually a no no as well.

4. If time is important - what is your imput to that. Perhaps you would share that there are Geocaching weekends (including events) and family weekends. - - - I think it would be difficult at best to try and designate weekends as such for the Geocaching Masses. Too many different things come to play here.

5. Location - site - type - I won't go on and on here - just post the whys, whens, wheres, and timing of what you would like for events. - - - I like a bit of organization at events. It seems that without organization of some sort folks get there and then just hang for a little bit and then go. Also you do see folks that just show up, check in and then move on. I don't have any suggestions other than being organized and letting folks know in advance what they might expect when they arrive. I think this is important especially for new folks.

6. How do you feel about short Meet N Greet Events? Do you like these better than all day, half day or longer events? Mid-week better? Coffee-break style? - - - I like all of the meet and greets, coffee get togethers, etc. They are different and while held usually during the week they attract some very large numbers of people especially when moved around different areas of the state. The format is usually quite loose, but that is what is expected I guess.

I do think that a little better job could be done promoting the events. The listings are usually OK, but there are often gaps between what is written and what happens. Not that this is a problem, but more detail I think would be better.

The event this weekend past was I guess kind of a "specialized" event. Caching yes, but the scrap booking thing was just something that would not hold my interest. Visiting with folks is always fun though and if I was not committed elsewhere I would have been there.

I think there is also some perceived difficulty as it relates to new folks breaking into the group. I think we all think we are open and go the extra mile to welcome new folks but sometimes that is not what new folks feel. I remember how it felt the first few times I attended events after moving back here to Maine. It was not always a warm and fuzzy welcoming feeling. It was kind of like being the odd man out sort of thing. You were there and not knowing anyone was a bit awkward. A lot has changed since then, but I can still see how new folks might be a bit apprehensive attending. I do not have any substantial suggestions to address this one, but I think it is something to think a bit about. - - - One thing that might be considered is to have a greeter of sorts to kind of look out for new folk and when they are found make sure they are welcomed and introduced to folk either formally or informally.

Well, I have rambled quite enough. Please do not take any of my comments personally. They were not intended as such. Just some thoughts that have been rattling around in my head even before Hollora posted the questions.

I'd really rather not cache, but I am helpless in the grip of my compulsion!

Thank you everyone for your posts and "answers". This may help everyone think through posting events if they have questions. Without some candor and honesty in why you did not - or did attend we can not adjust the offering of events.

This post is not a head hunting expedition but rather an exploratory post to see what we could do better or should not do.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. Keep those posts coming. And folks with kids - what could we do for you to make events better?

I'm kinda new so I haven't had a chance to attend any events yet. What I would consider attending at this point is a short meet and greet. Like Gob-ler said, I would feel really weird showing up at a longer, all day event not knowing anyone. Could make for a very uncomfortable afternoon.

For me, family things would be great as most of the time my kids come with me when I go geocaching.

Distance does matter as has been previously posted. If there were something right in Boothbay, I would try to make it there for sure. But to drive a long period of time to visit with people I don't know yet, I just wouldn't do right now. I'm sure everyone is wonderful, but it's hard when you just meet people.

I will try to get to an event sometime. Hopefully this fall or winter when things are less busy.